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Thesis
Department of Business Studies
Uppsala University
Spring Semester of 2017
Date of Submission: 2017-08-07
Lili Chang
Jiaqi Cheng
1
Supervisor: James Sallis
Abstract
Background: With the development of multinational companies (MNCs),
corporate social responsibility (CSR) has become a very important
component of corporate activities. However, the commitment to
CSR in China has been very low. Chinese consumers are becoming
less willing to accept different treatment from MNCs, but there has
been little study of CSR problems in the Chinese market or the
response of Chinese consumer.
Findings The results show that trust of CSR and awareness of CSR has a
significant influence on Chinese consumer response. Perceived
CSR has a significant influence on Chinese consumer response to
corporate evaluation but not on Purchase Intention. In addition, the
data did not reveal a relationship between consumer demographics
and consumer response to CSR.
2
Key Words: Corporate social responsibility (CSR), perceived CSR, trust of CSR,
awareness of CSR, consumer response, corporate evaluation,
purchase intention
3
Content
1. Introduction ............................................................................................................. 6
1.1 Research Purpose .............................................................................................. 7
1.2 Research Question ............................................................................................ 8
1.3 Contribution ...................................................................................................... 8
2. Literature Review.................................................................................................... 9
2.1 CSR Concept and development ........................................................................ 9
2.2 CSR and stakeholder—consumer ................................................................... 11
2.3 Constructs of Conceptual Model .................................................................... 12
2.3.1 Perceived CSR ...................................................................................... 13
2.3.2 Trust of CSR ......................................................................................... 13
2.3.3 Awareness of CSR ................................................................................. 14
2.3.4 Consumer response to CSR .................................................................. 15
2.3.5 Consumer Demographics ...................................................................... 17
2.4 Hypotheses and Research model .................................................................... 17
2.4.1 Hypotheses Summary ........................................................................... 17
2.4.2 Research Model .................................................................................... 19
3. Methodology ......................................................................................................... 20
3.1 Research Design.............................................................................................. 20
3.2 Research Context ............................................................................................ 20
3.3 Step 1: Qualitative Research ........................................................................... 20
3.3.1 Sampling ............................................................................................... 21
3.4 Step 2: Quantitative Research ......................................................................... 21
3.4.1 Sampling ............................................................................................... 21
3.4.2 Measurements ....................................................................................... 22
3.5 Choice of Statistical Tests ............................................................................... 26
4. Results and Analysis ............................................................................................. 27
4.1 Result of Qualitative research ......................................................................... 27
4.1.1 Perceived CSR ...................................................................................... 27
4.1.2 Awareness of CSR ................................................................................. 27
4.1.3 Trust of CSR ......................................................................................... 28
4.1.4 Corporate Evaluations ........................................................................... 28
4.1.5 Purchase Intention ................................................................................. 28
4.2 Consumer Characteristics ............................................................................... 28
4.2.1 Age ........................................................................................................ 29
4.2.2 Gender ................................................................................................... 29
4.2.3 Income (Yuan/Month) .......................................................................... 29
4.2.4 Education .............................................................................................. 29
4.3 Reliability Analysis ......................................................................................... 30
4.4 Factor Analysis................................................................................................ 31
4.5 Hypotheses Testing ......................................................................................... 32
4.5.1 Linear Regression ................................................................................. 33
4
4.5.2 Linear Multiple Regression................................................................... 34
4.6 Summary of Results ........................................................................................ 37
5. Discussion ............................................................................................................. 39
5.1 Perceived CSR and Consumer Response ........................................................ 39
5.2 Trust of CSR and Consumer Response ........................................................... 40
5.3 Awareness of CSR and Consumer Response .................................................. 40
5.4 Consumer Demographics and Consumer Response ....................................... 41
6. Conclusion ............................................................................................................ 42
6.1 Summary ......................................................................................................... 42
6.2 Managerial Implications ................................................................................. 42
6.3 Limitations ...................................................................................................... 43
6.4. Suggestions for Future Research ................................................................... 44
Reference ..................................................................................................................... 45
Appendix 1 Interview (English).............................................................................. 51
Appendix 2 Interview (Chinese) ............................................................................. 53
Appendix 3 Questionnaire (English) ...................................................................... 55
Appendix 3 Questionnaire (Chinese) ...................................................................... 57
5
1. Introduction
Studies of Corporate Society Responsibility (CSR) have increased substantially in
recent years (Parminder, 2013). Some studies have focused on the CSR activities of
companies in developing and/or developed markets. Most CSR activities are related to
sustainability, environment, safety, and gender issues.
The outcry from Chinese consumers about IKEA’s actions in China was largely the
result of increased Chinese consumer awareness of IKEA’s CSR activities. IKEA
strives to maintain a high level of commitment to CSR in the global market, and the
company’s stated mission is to make products with minimum impact on the
environment that are manufactured in a socially responsible way (Ikea, 2017). However,
in the Chinese market, IKEA’s commitments to CSR have been low, as evidenced by
the reluctance to do the same product recall that they did in the United States. There is
evidence of similar practices among many foreign MNCs in China. Many MNCs
lowered their environmental, labor, and ethical standards for operation in the Chinese
market, taking advantage of less stringent regulations. There were little market
consequences of this behavior, however, since the CSR awareness of Chinese
consumers was previously quite limited. Thus, ethical behavior of many MNCs and
their business practices has become the center of debate and controversy in China (Tang
and Li, 2009).
6
Nowadays, China is the largest and the fastest growing emerging economy in the world
(Luo and Park, 2001). For this reason, more and more MNCs are interested in entering
this new and large market. The recent shifts in the behavior and purchase response of
consumers in China and throughout Asia have been noticed by MNCs (Tian et al., 2011).
The awareness of consumer CSR is a new and increasing phenomenon in Asia
especially in China (Nielsen, 2014).
The IKEA scandal shows that issues of low CSR in China continue to be a serious
problem. As one of the most important stakeholders in the economy, consumers use
their preferences and attitudes to guide multinational companies to better fulfill their
corporate social responsibility. Therefore, to increase market share in China and
minimize the negative impacts caused by the scandal, it is expected that IKEA will work
to improve its CSR strategy.
According to Tian et al. (2011), Chinese consumer purchase response are positively
influenced by the good CSR behavior of an MNC. CSR’s impact on consumer’s
intention decreased when there was a problem or poor performance of a product (Auger
et al., 2008). These studies provided preliminary evidence that the response of
consumer to CSR behavior of MNCs are determined by three factors perception,
awareness, and trust. Therefore, this study tries to address the mechanisms by which
these three factors influence Chinese consumer response.
7
Overall, this research explores how consumers respond to Corporate Social
Responsibility (CSR) in China. The focus is on the consumer response, considered a
positive driving force on CSR. The work presented in this thesis could help
multinational companies to more fully understand consumer response, guiding efforts
to improve corporate trust and brand image in the new market of China.
1. What are the main CSR factors influencing Chinese Consumer’s response?
1.3 Contribution
CSR is practiced more widely in Western Countries compared to China. The thesis will
help MNCs understand the effects of these factors on the consumer response of Chinese
consumers to CSR initiatives. Moreover, it also will provide strategic guidance to
MNCs to effectively execute CSR programs in China. Furthermore, the results provide
MNCs managers with a strategy to improve their handling of corporation-consumer
relationships and CSR-related partnership initiatives in the Chinese market.
8
2. Literature Review
This chapter describes Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR), Consumer purchase
response, awareness of CSR, trust of CSR, Corporate Evaluation, and Consumer
Purchase Intention. It also describes our research model based on perceived CSR
Theory. Finally, hypotheses are presented as part of the theoretical foundation for the
study.
From the early stage of the development of the CSR concept, there was significant
interest from academics, the media, and investors. According to Friedman (1970), the
only responsibility of business is to utilize its resources and abilities to increase profits
for shareholders without breaking the law. Baron (2001) pointed out that CSR may be
considered a profit-maximizing corporation strategy that can also be looked upon as
being socially responsible.
A major question for business development has been whether corporate decision makers
should be concerned with issues other than profitability (Mohr et al., 2001). There is a
growing body of research attempting to define the consequences and benefits for a
company to be socially responsible. The most widely accepted definition of CSR is
Carroll’s four-pyramid model (1979), illustrated in Figure 1.
9
Figure 1: The pyramid of corporate social responsibility (Carroll, 1991)
The importance of CSR may be high on business agendas, and almost every big
organization communicates their CSR via their homepage in the form of sustainability
10
reports. However, the role of CSR is increasingly debated especially considering the
current economic development (Brown and Fraser, 2006). Questions remain however,
how well companies manage to achieve the promised CSR activities (Thoger et al.,
2013).
The discussion and definition of stakeholders began with Freeman (1984). According
to Freeman, “a stakeholder is an individual or a group which gets affected or can affect
the accomplishments of an organization’s objectives,” (Freeman, 1999, p.233).
Freeman’s stakeholder theory points out that a corporation is not only responsible to its
stakeholders, but also to all kinds of stakeholders in society. Consumers are given
particular attention, since their reactions have an important relationship with
corporation’s managerial decision-making (Brown and Dacin, 1997). In other words,
stakeholders’ interest in the consumer is a key factor which is taken into consideration
when running corporations.
When studying CSR, it is essential to identify responsibilities and the parties who are
going to assume those responsibilities (Clarkson, 1995). In stakeholder theory,
corporate social responsibility is further clarified, but includes enterprise social
responsibility assessment, making measurement possible. As consumers are an
important business-related stakeholder group, their preferences and behavior can
directly influence the development of an enterprise.
11
pay attention to social issues (Gilbert and Rasche, 2007). Thus, stakeholder theory is
logically connected with CSR (Friedman, 1970).
Making
pay attetion to Judging the Associating Behavior
CSR CSR : CSR response :
information: Awareness of information: Corporate:
Perceived CSR CSR Trust of CSR CE
PI
CSR and consumer relationship studies typically include five important variables:
Perceived CSR, Awareness of CSR, Trust of CSR, Corporation Evaluation (CE), and
Purchase Intention (PI). Corporation Evaluation (CE) and Purchase Intention (PI) are
the most popular dependent variables, and they are generally influenced by consumers
perceived level (Becker-Olsen et al., 2006). Consumer satisfaction, trust, and
commitment influence consumer perception of CSR activities. In this thesis, awareness
and trust are important indicators of consumer perception, and serve as the foundation
for perceived CSR activities (Lee and Shin, 2010). Trust and Awareness of CSR were
also used to illustrate consumer perception by Dutta and Singh (2013), and the results
show that consumers are willing to pay more to corporations that are more engaged in
CSR activities. Trust is widely used to measure consumer’s perception and scholars
have identified trust as one of the most important mediators of the consumer-
corporation relationship (Esch et al., 2006). Finally, CE and PI are the most studied
dependent variables, and are greatly influenced by consumer trust and awareness
(Becker et al., 2006).
12
In the following sections, we will expand our discussion about the relationship between
consumer response and consumer perception of CSR. A specific model and hypotheses
are also developed in the following sections.
H1-a) A higher level of consumer perceived CSR leads to a higher level of corporate
evaluation.
H1-b) A higher level of consumer perceived CSR leads to a higher level of purchase
intention.
13
performance (Pivato et al., 2008), and significantly affects consumer response to CSR
(Aqueveque, 2005). Therefore, trust in the CSR of a corporation can enhance the
relationship between consumer and corporation, and lead to positive consumer
purchase behavior.
Piercy and Lane (2009) addressed the idea that if a corporation actively takes part in
social activities, consumers will increase their trust of that corporation. The corporation
could not focus solely on their own benefits and ignore philanthropic efforts, as these
activities may generate negative influence. Trust plays an intermediate role between
CSR activities and purchase intention (Zhu et al., 2013). Consumer trust in the
credibility of a corporation’s CSR activities can also influence consumer response in
determining how to evaluate the corporation, based on the corporation’s image and
purchase intention (Mohr and Webb, 2005, Yoon et al., 2006). A higher trust can
promote the strong purchase intention of a product (Lee et al., 2012).
The emphasis consumers give to the transparency of CSR activities may also be
important, and models suggest that trust of CSR will have a positive relationship with
Purchase Intention (PI) and Corporate Evaluation (CE). Therefore, it may be said that:
H2-a) A higher level of consumer trust of CSR leads to a higher level of corporate
evaluation.
H2-b) A higher level of consumer trust of CSR leads to a higher level of purchase
intention.
H3 A higher level of consumer perceived CSR leads to a higher level of consumer trust
of CSR.
14
will improve. However, evidence shows that consumers generally have a low level of
awareness about CSR initiatives (Pomering and Dolnicar 2009). It is relatively hard to
achieve an effect from CSR awareness on evaluation and purchase intention if it is often
not recognized. Consumer recognition of CSR activities will at least partly depend on
the intensity of CSR information the consumer receives.
Thus, consumers with a higher level of awareness or concern of CSR are more likely
to show positive attitudes to the sponsoring firm and its products, and a higher level of
purchase intention (Lee and Shin, 2010). Therefore, it may be said that:
Past studies of consumer response and CSR focus on perceived reaction and behavior
response (Bhattacharya and Sen, 2004). Perceived reaction is the internal response of
consumers, and is mainly concerned about how CSR behavior affects consumer
15
perception of the state and attitude of a corporation, also described as consumer’s
corporate evaluation. The earliest perception studies are from Brown and Dacin (1997),
who point out that perception will influence the evaluation of corporation and product
quality from the view of the consumer.
Behavioral responses are external responses of consumers, and mainly include the
impact of CSR actions on consumer buying behavior, such as consumer purchasing
intention, buying loyalty, and the level of premium consumers are willing to pay.
Consumers may have a higher potential to accept service and purchase products from a
socially responsible firm (Daub and Ergenzinger, 2005). Again, findings in the extant
literature are mixed. To explore the relation between CSR behavior of firm and
consumers, we focus on consumer purchase intention and corporate evaluation.
Ethical consumers may like to support corporate CSR activities. These consumers have
a greater willingness to pay for the “luxury” of social consciousness (Auger et al., 2010).
16
positive relationship between a corporation’s CSR actions and consumer attitudes
toward the corporation.
H5: Consumer demographic variables (gender, age, income, educational level) affect
consumer corporate evaluation.
H6: Consumer demographic variables (gender, age, income, educational level) affect
consumer purchase intention.
17
Table 1 Summary of Hypotheses
Hypotheses Contents
H1a A higher level of consumer perceived CSR leads to a higher level of
corporate evaluation.
18
2.4.2 Research Model
Figure 3 Research Model based on Tian, Z., Wang, R., and Yang, W., (2011).
19
3. Methodology
Chapter 3 describes the two-stage process of this study, including qualitative research
and quantitative research. The qualitative research includes focus group interviews,
sampling, and data collection. In the quantitative part of this analysis, we introduce
research objects and then present the sampling and data collection procedure. Next,
we show five constructs of the questionnaire and explain the measurement items of each
factor. Finally, we will describe the method we adapt to analyze our empirical findings.
20
although it is not easily quantified (Barnham, 2015). Qualitative research can access
‘deeper’ levels of information through such interrogative strategies (Barnham, 2015).
3.3.1 Sampling
In order to get more detailed information and identify the contributing factors, we
interviewed eight persons face-to-face in order to collect qualitative data. We did not
know beforehand whether these people were knowledgeable or not about corporate
social responsibility (CSR).
First, we introduced the aim of the research and then asked the questions one by one.
We encouraged them to answer all questions in detail. Each interview or online
discussion lasted one to one and a half hours. In answering the 10 questions, all
interviewees talked about their ideas and thoughts about the CSR of multinational
corporations. After we finished the interview, we summarized their comments, and then
asked the interviewees to review our summary to check the accuracy of our written
comments.
Based on the results of the qualitative research and our theory, we then designed a
quantitative study to test our hypotheses.
3.4.1 Sampling
Considering the efficiency and feasibility of data collection, an online questionnaire
was adopted in our study. This approach makes sure that a single IP address can only
access one questionnaire at one time and answers are recorded automatically
(Denscombe, 2007). Therefore, this study sent out questionnaires on the Wenjuan Xing
website, the most effective way to collect data from Chinese consumers. The data was
then analyzed.
21
To improve the representation of the data given cost and time limits, we applied a
snowball sampling strategy to select respondents (Denscombe, 2007). Initially, the
researcher can involve a small group who understands the research problem. After that,
this small sample of respondents was sent hyperlinks to the questionnaire to allow them
to invite new people to participate in the research. In this way, the small sample became
larger, like a rolling snowball (Denscombe, 2007). The online survey was administered
for one week from May 8th to May 15th.
3.4.2 Measurements
All questions for the questionnaire used the seven Likert scales, where 1="strongly
disagree" and 7 = "strongly agree" (Bryman and Bell, 2007). The construct definitions
for the adapted model are presented in Table 2.
22
Table 2: The adapted research model and relevant studies
No. of
Construct Theoretical Definition Reference
Items
Perceived The ability of the consumers to Maignan et al., 3
CSR differentiate between corporate (2001)
economic responsibilities on
the one hand and corporate
legal, ethical, philanthropic
responsibilities on the other
hand.
For accuracy, the selected items should represent the concept about which
generalizations are to be made (Wang et al., 2003). In constructing the adapted research
model, measurement items were selected from established questionnaires from
previous studies to maintain the validity of the questionnaire.
Perceived CSR is mainly to examine whether consumers feel that the corporation is
conducting CSR. Perception is measured as a three-item construct, as taken from Marin
and Ruiz (2006) and Sen and Bhattacharya (2001).
23
CSR Awareness is mainly to test whether consumers realize that a corporation is
conducting CSR practice. Here, awareness is measured as a four-item construct, based
on Poemring and Dolniar (2009), Salmones et al., (2005), and Perez and Rodriguez del
Bosque (2013).
CSR Trust is evaluated as the degree to which consumers believe these CSR activities.
A four-item construct to measure trust was used based on previous research by Newell
and Goldsmith (2001) and Erdem and Swait (2004).
24
Table 3 Research constructs and items included in the questionnaire
Construct Item Measure items Source
Trust of CSR TR1 I believe that IKEA has the ability Newell and
(Q8-Q11) to deliver what it promises. Goldsmith
(2001)
TR2 I believe IKEA is selling green
products. Erdem and
Swait (2004)
TR3 I believe that IKEA is a brand
with a good reputation.
25
CE3 I think IKEA is a successful
corporation.
26
4. Results and Analysis
First, we will show the results of the qualitative research. Next, we will show the results
of quantitative research covering sample profile, reliability analysis, factor analysis,
linear regression, and hypothesis testing.
Table 4 Interviewees
Gender Age Codified Name Education Location Date of Interview
Female 24 F1 Master Shanghai 2017/5/8
Female 25 F2 Bachelor Shanghai 2017/5/8
Female 27 F3 Phd. Shanghai 2017/5/8
Male 29 M1 Master Shanghai 2017/5/8
Male 32 M2 Master Shanghai 2017/5/9
Male 30 M3 Master Shanghai 2017/5/9
Male 30 M4 Phd. Shanghai 2017/5/9
Male 26 M5 Phd. Shanghai 2017/5/9
27
the composition of the goods, trying to avoid the purchase of environmentally harmful
materials.” Second, eight respondents expressed that they preferred paper bags instead
of plastic bags. When I shopping and I found the paper package showing the recycling
mark. Then, I was glad to purchase it since I could see the corporation made a good
contribution to society.
28
4.2.1 Age
As shown in the table, our largest group of respondents were from 31 to 40 years of age.
This may mean people of this age group are more interested in this topic and are
therefore more willing to answer. Only one person older than 60 completed the
questionnaire, and there were no respondent 51-60 years of age. There is an unbalanced
distribution among different age groups. Because our survey focuses on IKEA, a
furniture corporation targeting young families, we believe that the data are still valid.
4.2.2 Gender
In the 195 samples, there were 74 males, accounting for 37.95% of all respondents, and
121 females, which accounts for 62.05%.
4.2.4 Education
For education level, most respondents have a master degree (46.15%) and 37.95%
respondents have a bachelor degree. Twenty-three respondents (11.79%) have junior
college education. 7 respondents have PhD or higher degree, 3.59%. This indicates that
most highly educated people care about the CSR of corporations and have higher
purchase intention on products from corporations with higher CSR in China.
29
Table 5 Demographics details of the questionnaire (n=195)
Measure Items Frequency Percentage
30
“It the value is less than 0.7, perhaps you may need to remove items with low item-total
correlations” (Pallant, 2016, p.104).
Corrected Item-Total Correlation values “give you an indication of the degree to which
each item correlates with the total score” (Pallant, 2016, p.104). “Lower value which is
less than 0.3 means that the item is something different from the scale as a whole”
(Pallant, 2016, p.104). Table 6 shows the reliability test results of this study.
All corrected item-total correlation values are positive and greater than 0.3. All the
items correlate well with the total score. All the values of Cronbach’s alpha are above
0.8, except AW 2 (0.793), AW 4 (0.757), CE 2 (0.797), and PI 2 (0.795). Thus, almost
all items indicate good internal consistency reliability in this sample and efficient
internal reliability of all measurement items.
31
Table 6 The Results of the Reliability Test & Factor Test
Internal Reliability & Factor Analysis
Cronbach’s Alpha Cronbach’s Factor
Construct Items
if Item Deleated Alpha Loading
PI 2 0.795 0.781
Purchase 0.850
Intention PI 3 0.819 0.737
PI 4 0.802 0.758
32
lower than 0.05 at 95% confidential interval, which means that the independent
variable has a statistically significant effect on dependent variable” (Studenmund,
2006, p.129), while t-value which is higher 1.96 at 95% confidential interval and a
sample over 100 shows that the independent variable has a statistically significant effect
on dependent (Pallant, 2016).
In the data shown in the above figure, the dependent variable is Trust of CSR and the
independent variable is Perceived CSR. We can see from the table that Beta is 0.750, ǀ
33
t-value ǀ is 15.761, and the p-value is 0.000<0.05. In this study, the R Square value is
0.563, which means that our model explains 56.3% of the variance, and the F stats/sig
is 248.397 and 0.000. Therefore, Perceived CSR is positively and significantly related
to Trust of CSR, and H3 is supported.
Control Variables
The consumer demographic variables are control variables used so that the beta
estimates for the CSR factors are unbiased. First, we check to see if they are significant.
If not, we can remove them from further analyses.
34
Figure 6. H6 results
From the data shown in the above figure, we can see that the only significant control
variable is age (sig. = .038), indicating we should keep it for further analysis of Purchase
Intention. However, when we ran the model with the main factors and only age (not
shown), the age became insignificant, and we removed it from any further analyses.
In conclusion, none of the control variables were significant, so they were all removed.
Corporate Evaluation
In this study, the R Square value is 0.854, which means that our model explains 85.4%
of the variance in Corporation Evaluation, and the F stats/sig is 371.006 / 0.000. The R
Square is good for the model.
35
of CSR, Awareness of CSR, and Corporate Evaluation. A higher level of Perceived CSR
(Beta=0.251, │t-value│=5.017>1.96; p-value=0.000<0.05) and Trust of CSR (Beta
=0.112, │t-value│= 2.336>1.96; p-value=0.021<0.05) and Awareness of CSR (Beta
=0.613, │t-value│= 11.155>1.96; p-value=0.000<0.05) leads to a higher level of
corporate evaluation, supporting H1a and H2a and H4a.
36
evaluation, supporting H2b and H4b. According to the data presented in Figure 8,
Perceived CSR (Beta=-0.038, │t-value│=-0.387<1.96; p-value=0.699>0.05) was not
significant, and the analysis cannot support H1b.
Table 7 H1b & H2b &H4b results
Coefficientsa
Standardized
Unstandardized Coefficients Coefficients
Model B Std. Error Beta t Sig.
Test
Hypotheses Content
Result
Corporate Evaluation
H1-a Perceived CSR → Support
(CE)
Purchase Intention Not
H1-b Perceived CSR →
(PI) Support
Corporate Evaluation
H2-a Trust of CSR → Support
(CE)
Purchase Intention
H2-b Trust of CSR → Support
(PI)
H3 Perceived CSR → Trust of CSR Support
Corporate Evaluation
H4-a Awareness of CSR → Support
(CE)
Purchase Intention
H4-b Awareness of CSR → Support
(PI)
Corporate Evaluation Not
H5 Consumer Demographic →
(CE) Support
Purchase Intention Not
H6 Consumer Demographic →
(PI) Support
37
Figure 10 The summary of the results
38
5. Discussion
In this section, we discuss the main CSR factors influencing Chinese consumer response
based on the CSR model of Chapter 2. Based on literature review and individual
interview research, we proposed 6 hypotheses before collecting data through online
questionnaires. We tested the proposed model with SPSS. The findings strongly
indicated that Trust of CSR and Awareness of CSR have strong positive effects on
Corporate Evaluation and Purchase Intention. Perceived CSR affected Corporate
Evaluation, but was not a driving factor of Purchase Intention. In addition, consumer
demographics did not appear to affect consumer response.
Furthermore, all respondents expressed a desire for more accessible information about
the social responsibility records of corporations. For example, many respondents
reported that it was hard to find information about company CSR activities. If
consumers could more easily learn details about the company’s CSR efforts, they would
likely develop a more positive view of the company.
In addition, the results of our research contradict previous research showing a positive
relationship between Perceived CSR and Purchase Intention (Ellen et al., 2006). This
is a little different from our initial hypothesis. Regarding consumers’ Perceived CSR,
it is not a direct relationship that contributes to Purchase Intention. One respondent
stated that “even though I perceived the fact that it was an ethical company which was
conducting CSR practices, it was not enough to influence my purchase intention. I
needed to also think of more key factors such price and function and trust for product.”
39
Therefore, corporations need to know CSR is important but not sufficient to influence
consumer purchase intention.
Based on the results of our research, Trust of CSR is related to product quality, the
primary standard considered by consumers. One interviewee said: I trust IKEA since it
could provide green furniture products in China. The material information was credible
and real in the product catalogue. I learned that they had strict quality control systems.
It increased the sense of security for me. It was my first brand choice for purchasing
furniture. Therefore, product quality plays a crucial role for consumers to evaluate a
company, leading to positive Purchase Intention. A corporation also develops CSR
programs to benefit environmental sustainability. For instance, more and more
companies recycle products for second use. This not only protects the environment, but
it also enhances the corporation's reputation. In this way, consumers have a positive
response towards Corporate Evaluation and Purchase Intention.
Although trust plays a key role when judging a corporation, trust is vulnerable to a
variety of destructive threats, including negative media exposure. As described earlier,
the IKEA scandal negatively affecting the trust of this company China. Overall, trust
must be carefully managed by the corporation.
40
evaluation of a company and consumer purchase intention. A low awareness of CSR
activities among consumers will lead to a low effect of CSR initiatives, directly
influencing Purchase Intention and Corporate Evaluation. This has prompted several
researchers (for example, Maignan, 2001; Mohr et al., 2001) to call for the careful
evaluation of CSR awareness among consumers. Our findings verify our hypotheses
that CSR activities can lead to positive effect on consumer response.
The qualitative research of our study provided insights into the CSR awareness of eight
consumers. These interviewees were well aware of IKEA’s efforts to show
responsibility towards society and the environment. Most interviewees cared about
ethical issues, and they were concerned about whether a corporation was conducting
CSR activities and related these efforts to the corporation’s ethical conduct. This
implies that consumers seek “good” CSR activities, and they intend to buy products
from “good” and “ethical” companies.
Corporations should advertise and promote their ethical and moral activities.
Furthermore, they can invite consumers to join their efforts. There was a very famous
public welfare advertisement from Taobao corporation. When consumers purchased
children’s furniture online, Taobao would donate 5% of the product price to support
children from poor areas such as Guangxi Province and Yunnan Province of China. This
was a good way to improve consumer awareness of CSR efforts by this company. It
communicated that Taobao’s CSR program helps society. In response, sales were
greatly increased online. Meanwhile, Taobao also received good comments from many
consumers online. More consumers were aware of the program, showing a positive
effect on corporate evaluation and purchase intention.
41
6. Conclusion
This chapter is a summary of the study and the results. Based on the theoretical review
and the results of the qualitative and quantitative analysis, we organized this chapter
into 4 parts: summary, managerial implications, limitations, and suggestions for future
research.
6.1 Summary
In recent years, Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) has been discussed from the
academic and practical perspective (Lee et al., 2012) in marketing strategy and
corporate strategy (Thompson et al., 2013). This research explores factors that influence
Chinese consumer response in terms of CSR. Although many corporations engage in
CSR activities, they should think carefully about the way they do pursue these activities
and how well they communicate these efforts to consumers.
The results of the study showed that Chinese consumers are concerned about the
consequences and the sustainability of CSR. CSR strategy, as a relatively new
marketing function in China, should be used and communicated by carefully
considering consumer characteristics.
42
CSR activities are still in the early stage in China (Gao, 2008). Our results indicate that
Trust of CSR has a significant influence on Chinese consumer response. So, we suggest
that managers build CSR strategy by building trust with consumers and making a
contribution to society.
Corporations should inform consumers of their CSR activities and meet consumer
expectations. In general, the Awareness of the CSR of Chinese consumers is now
growing, and the overall level of CSR awareness of the interviewees was quite high.
Therefore, corporations should pay attention to CSR efforts and the expectations of
consumers. Dishonest pricing, false advertising, failure to recall bad-quality products,
and so on can be big risks for corporations. IKEA is a good example. Companies need
to be proactive with their CSR to avoid a negative reputation.
Finally, we recommend that corporations should combine good quality and service of
selling when conducting CSR activities. Our results show that quality of product is a
key factor and has a big effect on Purchase Intention and Corporate Evaluation.
6.3 Limitations
This study discovered main CSR factors influencing Chinese consumer response.
However, there are some limitations of this work, summarized as below.
First of all, we built a CSR model to identify the main CSR factors. From the results of
our study, some positive relationships were supported between trust, awareness of CSR,
43
and consumer response. This study focused more on the identification of the main
factors and their relationships, and future studies are required to determine the
underlying basis of these relationships.
Second, the snowball sampling method allowed us to obtain a fairly large sample.
However, this method could be biased, because there is no randomness and insufficient
control over who responded. The qualitative research approach provided more detailed
ideas of different people, but the limit of this method is that respondents may be
influenced by the researchers. The characteristics of these eight respondents may have
some similarities with those of the authors. Although we tried to find respondents of
different ages and different educational backgrounds, this limitation remains. In
addition, we collected data from furniture industry consumers, which can also be
considered as a limitation of this study. In future research, more industries should be
included.
First, there are also other potential factors, such as product catalogues and brand
preferences that may be factors influencing consumer response to CSR. Consumer
response to CSR will be inevitably influenced by the brand preference of a specific firm.
Therefore, how CSR activities impact consumers in different stages of consumer brand
recognition needs to be studied.
Secondly, researchers need to expand CSR research to include studies in other countries
and cultures. CSR may be context-specific, and conclusions based on Western research
may not be true in other cultures.
44
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Appendix 1 Interview (English)
Interview Guide
2. Perceived CSR
Q3: Do you agree that IKEA has good Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) record?
If yes, Please specific it.
Q4: How would you define corporate social responsibly (CSR) in your opinion? Do
you agree corporate social responsibility express a situation in which firms not only
strive for economic profits? If Yes, Please specific it.
3. Awareness of CSR
Q5: Do you care about environmental protection in the daily consumption? If yes,
Please specific it.
Q6: Do you usually pay attention to corporation’s some social issues involving firm’s
charitable donations? If yes, Please specific it.
4. Trust of CSR
Q7: Look back to your shopping experience, what are the factors that you will take
into consideration in order to judge if the corporation is trustworthy?
5. Corporate Evaluation
Q8: What kind of factors which are impact the evaluation of corporation from your
view? Do you think the involvement in social responsible activity would be are
positively impact the evaluation of corporation? If yes, Please specific it.
6. Purchase Intention
Q9: Will you prefer to buy from the firm that has a socially responsible reputation if
the price and quality of two products are the same? If yes, Please specific it.
51
Q10: Will you pay more to buy the products from a socially responsible corporation?
If yes, Please specific it.
(We want you to help us evaluate this research. We want to know how to improve us
research.)
52
Appendix 2 Interview (Chinese)
Interview Guide
大家好,我们正在进行关于中国消费者对于企业社会责任的反应的课题研究。非
常诚挚的感谢您作为我们的调查对象。
1. 介绍故事与经验的分享
Q1: 请介绍一下在你心目中声誉比较好的家居行业跨国企业的名字。你喜欢去宜
家购物吗,频率多少?宜家吸引你的地方有哪些?
Q2: 你听说过 IKEA 的抽屉案件丑闻吗?负面消息是否会影响你对 IKEA 的看
法的改变?如果有改变,请具体描述。
2. 企业社会责任的感知
Q3: 宜家(IKEA)的企业具备良好的公司社会责任记录,你是否同意?
Q4: 请用你自己的观点定义企业社会责任。你是否同意企业的社会责任传递的
不仅仅只是企业单纯的追求经济利润?如果同意此观点,请具体描述。
3. 企业社会责任的意识
Q5: 每天的日常消费生活中,你是否关心环境保护这个问题?如果同意,请具体
描述
Q6: 你经常关注公司涉及到慈善活动吗?如果关注,请具体描述
4. 企业社会责任的信任度
Q7: 回顾你的购物经验,哪种因素会被考虑去评估公司是否具备诚信?(比方说
三聚氰胺的事情,哪怕那个公司哪天东山再起了,你还会买吗?)
5. 公司评价
Q8: 哪种因素会影响你对公司的整体评估?你认为社会活动是否对公司评估有
正面的影响?如果同意,请具体描述。
6. 消费者购买意愿
Q9: 在同等质量和价格的产品选择中,你更愿意去买有好的社会责任感和美誉的
53
产品吗?如果是,请具体描述。
Q10: 你是否愿意花更多的钱去购买具备社会责任感公司的产品??如果愿意,
请具体描述。
54
Appendix 3 Questionnaire (English)
Questionnaire for Chinese consumer response to CSR in China.
Hello everyone,
This questionnaire is designed to research Chinese consumer response regard to CSR
behavior corporation in the Chinese market.
Thank you for your cooperation!
Part 2 In this part, we would like to know how much you agree or disagree with
the following statements. For each question, there are seven options from 1 to 7.
Please choose one option when you answer these questions.
55
I believe that IKEA has the ability to
deliver what it promises.
56
Appendix 3 Questionnaire (Chinese)
Questionnaire for Chinese consumer response to CSR in China.
大家好,我们想请大家帮忙做一下我们硕士毕业论文的调查问卷。这份调查问卷
是关于中国消费者对跨国公司企业社会责任行为的反应。第一部分包括您的个人
背景问题;第二部分是关于中国消费者对跨国公司企业社会责任行为的反应的问
题。
谢谢您的参与!
第一部分 个人背景
您的性别 ☐ 男 ☐ 女
您的年龄 __________
您的教育程度 __________
您购买家具的频率(近六个月) __________
您的税前月收入 __________
第二部分 在这个部分,我们想知道您对一下陈述的赞同和不赞同程度。每个问
题有 7 个选项(从 1 到 7,1 代表不赞同,7 代表非常赞同),请您在回答问题时
选择一个选项。
在日常消费中,我关注环境保护问题。
我能看到宜家(IKEA)负有社会责任感,
并超越了他们的经济利益。
57
我会关注涉及到企业慈善捐款的社会
问题。
我认为宜家(IKEA)正在真诚地致力于
为社会做出贡献。
我相信宜家(IKEA)有能力履行承诺。
我相信宜家销售的是绿色环保产品。
我相信宜家(IKEA)是一个具备美誉的
品牌。
我相信宜家(IKEA)的社会责任的实践,
对社会做出重大的贡献。
我对宜家(IKEA)有较高的企业社会责
任感做出积极的评价。
我认为宜家(IKEA)是值得信赖的公司。
我认为宜家(IKEA)是一个成功企业。
我相信我将购买关注慈善事业公司的
产品。
对于来自于企业社会责任感很强的公
司的产品,我愿意支付更多的钱去购
买。
对于同样的价格和质量相同的产品,我
更愿意购买具备企业社会责任感美誉
的产品。
我愿意再次购买具备良好企业社会责
任感公司的产品。
58